1. His name is Richard Clay Riding2. He goes by Clay
3. He is one of 3 children - he has 2 sisters
4. He grew up in Stockton, Utah
5. Stockton is a teeny tiny town
6. He graduated from Tooele High School
7. He only went on one other date besides my mom (I think...) b/c he was too cheap to pay to take a girl out!
8. Once while playing baseball he slid into a base, when he stood up the base came up with him (a nail from the base was stuck in his rear end)
9. He only has daughters and we used to tease him during dinner and say words like tampon, bra, etc.
10. He claims he should have received a handicap sticker for living with 4 females
11. He LOVES LOVES LOVES golf
12. Sometimes I think he works for the mob b/c all he does is golf during the day but still has money - he claims they are "business meetings"
13. He is going to Ireland to golf this summer
14. He went to Scotland a few summers ago to golf - he got a hole-in-one at St. Andrews (I think that's the course...I guess it's a famous place :))
15. He graduated from the University of Utah
16. He got a degree in Accounting
17. He now works in the Natural Gas field
18. He is in the Bishopric in his ward
19. He enjoys the Mariners - he says he only goes b/c my mom makes him, but I don't believe him
20. He often gets extra tickets to the Mariners and we get to go as well
21. He once stepped on my foot while he was wearing golf shoes, and I was wearing sandals. I was only 3.
22. My favorite thing to do with my dad when I was younger was go to the dump with him. We would always stop and get hot dogs and chips afterwards.
23. He likes to play volleyball
24. He likes to play basketball
25. He enjoys playing bocci ball with his son-in-laws
26. He likes to play games, but not stupid ones
27. I think he mainly likes card games - like Canasta, Rummy 500, UNO
28. He is also really good at word games like Scrabble, Speed Scrabble, and Boggle
29. He thinks he knows the definition of every word and makes us believe it's true
30. He is extremely stubborn
31. He is very giving
32. He likes to play FreeCell on the computer - my parents used to keep track of what games they've played so they don't repeat them
33. He has to do every crossword puzzle that is in the newspaper - I think he is currently 3 or 4 weeks (maybe months) behind.
34. He insists on keeping each newspaper until he has done it
35. He also reads the comics in said newspapers
36. He likes to cut out funny comics and put them on the fridge so we can read them
37. He likes to play hide-and-seek with the girls but they often give up on finding him b/c they are too scared he will jump out and get them
38. He has a hard time being quiet...must tap a pen, tap his fingers, whistle, tap foot, etc.
39. He takes his laptop to meetings at work (he is the ONLY one that does) and does work while he should be listening (very efficient)
40. He's probably shaking his head while reading this
41. I remember once that while I was at a softball game of his I wet my pants. He tied them to the car and while we drove to the next destination they blew dry in the wind (very resourceful)
42. My sisters and I never attempted to sneak out of the house at night b/c we had no idea what he would do if he caught us
43. He loves pistachios
44. He loves potato chips
45. He takes his diet coke with a shot of dr. pepper (even orders it that way at restaurants sometimes)
46. He loves oatmeal cookies (his mom's recipe)
47. He loves classic rock music
48. He has a secret love of karaoke
49. He owns a margarita maker that he makes virgin pina colodas with
50. He is a great Dad and Grandpa.
Thanks for everything! Happy 50th Birthday! Man, are you OLD!
Thanks Mom (and Dad) for watching the girls for me.